Friday, January 16, 2015

Journaling with a Blog: Butterfly Mind

"Winter hasn’t quite arrived in Blacksburg. It has been fairly warm here the past few nights, so I wasn’t sure how liquid or solid the pond might be. I was excited when I hiked in, gloves and hat on, camera in hand, and saw a thin sheath of new ice creeping from the shore towards the middle of the pond. I lost myself for a while watching the breeze blow ripples against the thin crust; I was mesmerized by the movement of liquid against the crystal skin." -- from the entry Running away to the woods

Andrea Badgley categorizes her blog, Butterfly Mind, as creative non-fiction. While that's true, Badgley captures her life in the form of journaling. With the use of photos and beautiful prose, she captures moments from her everyday life and tells the world. Her entries either capture her own thoughts and feelings for the day or tell about the adventures she takes with her family. She holds nothing back in her serene, yet honest posts.

From reading Badgley's blog I was able to get a sense of who she was. Her narrative voice was that strong, that in minutes, I was hooked into reading her posts, one after the other. She has a truly authentic voice that carries over from each entry in her blogging journal.

I think "Butterfly Mind" is an effective blog because the author has a definite style and sound. Her posts stay within the tone of journaling, but take a creative approach to the wording, allowing Badgley to often reflect with inner thoughts. She incorporates personal observations and experiences while taking time to observe different points of her life. Sometimes, she will propose questions, not to be answered by anyone in particular, but to just be left to think about.

I think that Badgley grows over time from post to post as a writer because she really falls into her own discovered writing style. She grows in self-awareness as she discovers more and more about herself through her writing. She is aware of her audience and often likes to put forth the message of stopping to appreciate the beauty of life.